Possible Drug Target Found For One Of The Most Aggressive Breast Cancers

[Adsos Letter]

SOURCE: ScienceDaily (July 9, 2009)

— Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) investigators have identified a gene that could be an important therapeutic target in the treatment of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. Currently, patients with these cancers have few treatment options.

“Breast cancer mortality rates are actually declining, but the cancers that don’t respond to traditional treatments tend to be more aggressive and have decreased survival rates,” said VARI Research Scientist Carrie Graveel, Ph.D., lead author of the study published this week in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U.S.A.

Researchers found that the Met gene may play a critical role in the development of an aggressive form of breast cancer known as basal breast cancer.

“Met has already been associated with decreased survival in breast cancer, but this study identifies its importance in specific types that can be distinguished at the molecular level,” said VARI Distinguished Scientific Fellow George Vande Woude, Ph.D., who heads the laboratory that conducted the research.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708153238.htm